


Freshman Year

by Ficsmyfriendsmakefunofmefor



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Morally Neutral Creativity | Roman Sanders, Morally Neutral Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Morally Neutral Deceit | Janus Sanders, Sympathetic Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Sympathetic Logic | Logan Sanders, Sympathetic Morality | Patton Sanders, Y’all aren’t prepared, abuse tw, self harm tw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24449467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ficsmyfriendsmakefunofmefor/pseuds/Ficsmyfriendsmakefunofmefor
Summary: The sides are all in high school, trying to combat shitty parents and a society that does not care about them whatsoever. Things will work their way out though, right? Right?Updates every Friday.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders
Comments: 8
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1: Going Through Hell Is More Fun With Friends

**Author's Note:**

> Listen I know high school AUs are unoriginal but they’re fun and I like messing with that area of things so here we are, have fun and stay safe!!

It felt like he couldn’t breathe.

His chest hurt like hell.

Tears were flowing out of his eyes. 

His heart started beating so fast he could hear it.

It was if he was dying. Whether or not he actually was, he had no clue.

It seems Virgil was so distracted with everything going on that he didn’t notice when two other people walked into the bathroom.

Janus leaned on the bathroom wall.

“Only the third day of school and we’ve already started skipping class, huh? I’m so disappointed in us.”

“You’d think they’d have caught on at least a little bit by now, we’ve been doing this for how many years now?”

“That’s the thing, Remus. They don’t really care. They know, I’m sure of it. They just don’t care enough about us to stop it. I guarantee that we aren’t the only ones who do it either.”

“That’s probably true. You’ve always been pretty sma-“

Janus put his finger to Remus’ lips. He heard someone crying. They weren’t alone.

He walked towards the sound, Remus following behind.

He tried knocked on the stall door, only for it to come completely open.

The dude didn’t even bother to lock it.

He was sitting on the floor of the stall for some reason, bawling his eyes out and trembling like crazy.

The boy looked up at the two people staring at him. The tears certainly weren’t stopping any time soon.

Remus knew an anxiety attack when he saw one. He’d had about a million in his lifetime. That was an exaggeration, of course, but it didn’t seem like it to him.

He sighed.

“Breathe in for four seconds, hold for seven, breathe out for nine.”

Virgil did as he was told, and kept doing it until he felt at least a little bit okay.

“What’s your name?” Janus asked.

“Virgil. It’s...Virgil.”

“Hm. I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new here?”

“I’m...I’m a freshman...if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Remus, have you seen him before?”

Remus shook his head.

“Must mean you aren’t too annoying. I’ll take pity on you, considering the state we found you in. You can hang with us for a while...if you’d like,” Janus said.

“Nope. It’s not optional. Virgil, we’re keeping you. You don’t have a choice.”

Remus reaches out his hand towards Virgil, offering to help him up. Virgil took his hand and smiled, though he was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of not having a say in something involving him.

It felt nice to have what seemed like  
friends for once.

Janus walked back to where he was standing before, not wanting to converse in a bathroom stall. 

Remus followed, sitting down on the floor beside Janus. Not really knowing what else to do, Virgil did the same. 

Remus pulled out a small sketchbook out of his pocket, along with a pencil. He started doodling something that looked like the Duolingo owl, along with lots of red.

Upon closer inspection, it looked like the Duolingo owl stabbing someone, with a caption at the top of the page that said ‘DO YOUR FUCKING SPANISH LESSONS.’

Janus looked down at the drawing. It was good, no doubt about that. Remus has always been an amazing artist, but Janus wondered why he used his skills to make things like that instead of something that he could actually make a living off of.

“So, Virgil, what’s your next class?” Janus asked.

“Art. Why?”

“Just curious. Are you planning on skipping that too?”

Looking up at Janus, Virgil saw a big scar on half of his face. He’d been too distracted by everything to notice it before, apparently. 

He wondered what had caused such a big scar, but he figured it would be rude to ask, and he didn’t want to immediately fuck it up with the only people that were actually nice to him.

“If you guys are staying here I’d rather stay with you than go to class.”

Virgil felt a little bad skipping art class since his art teacher had always been really nice to him, but he just really didn’t feel up to going.

“I’ll probably dip, sorry Virge. Art is one of the only classes I actually like,” Remus said.

“You have art too?” Virgil asked.

“Yep. If you want I can sit with you in class, maybe that would help calm you down a bit?”

Virgil smiled.

“Sure.”

“Is that alright with you, Jan?”

“Totally. I have lunch next anyways, so I probably won’t be in here for that long.”

The bell rang.

Remus put his sketchbook away and got up off of the floor. Again, he offered Virgil his hand, and Virgil took it.

“Okay J-anus, see you later!” 

Remus wrapped his arm around Virgil and they started walking out the door together.

————————————————

Janus didn’t really know what to do by himself. It was always a bit difficult for him when he didn’t have Remus around, as much as he’d hate to admit it.

Remus made him feel at ease, and as weird as he was, Janus knew that he was trustworthy.

Not knowing what else to do, Janus reached into his pocket, pulling out a friend of his. The lighter that he always carried around.

————————————————

Virgil and Remus arrived to class early because the art room was practically right next to the bathroom.

Early enough that the only one there just so happened to be Remus’ brother.

Roman always made it to art class much earlier than he needed to. He already enjoyed the class by itself, but the fact that the teacher was as nice as they were made it much better, so Roman would stop by a couple minutes early so he could get a chance to talk to them.

Apparently Remus and Virgil had walked in at a bad time though. Roman was saying something about his mom, then he saw Remus and immediately stopped.

Remus didn’t know what he was saying, but he didn’t like it. Not one bit. And it showed.

Remus glared at Roman as a slight warning to shut up and never finish what he was saying.

Virgil had absolutely no clue what was going on, but he could tell that it wasn’t good.

The art teacher cleared their throat.

“Remus! Virgil! Good afternoon!”

“Hi, Mx. Tarsitano,” Remus said, sitting down on one of the bean bags he previously stood by.

Virgil just stood there awkwardly next to the bean bag Remus was sitting on. He didn’t know whether it would be weirder to copy Remus or to just keep standing there, so he chose the one he was already doing.

Once the rest of the class arrived, Mx. Tarsitano announced their first assignment. They wanted to start with something simple because it was only the third day of school, so the assignment was to draw something meaningful to you.

Virgil was gonna draw his new friends, but figured that would be weird, considering they’d just met, so he decided to draw his spider, Susan.

Remus and Virgil sat on the floor to do this, much like everyone else. 

For some reason, Roman decided to sit down next to them. Remus didn’t know why, because they’d never really had a good relationship, especially recently. The only time they ever really got along with each other was when they were little kids.

If Roman did really give a shit about Remus, he surely didn’t show it. He never tried to stop anything that had happened to Remus. He just sat there and watched, letting it continue.

“Uh, is this spot taken?” Roman asked.

“Why ask that if you’re only going to sit in it anyways?” Remus replied.

Once again, Virgil had absolutely no clue what was going on, but he got very bad vibes from it and wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

A fight was coming and he could practically sense it. He wanted no part in it at all.

Remus sighed.

“You can stay, just shut up and be quiet. I don’t wanna have to deal with you in front of my new friend.”

A loud noise started blaring throughout the entire school.

The fire alarm?

Everyone started evacuating. Once they were out of the building, Remus located Janus, making sure he was okay in case this wasn’t a fire drill.

He noticed that Janus’ left arm was very wet, and immediately had a plausible explanation for the fire alarm going off.

“You did the thing again, didn’t you?” Remus asked.

“Yep.”

“What thing?” Virgil asked.

“Don’t ask why, but I carry a lighter around. I was playing with it and I guess I got a little too close to one of the fire sprinkler things. It went off and set the fire alarm off along with it.”

Virgil sighed.

“You’re lucky nobody was in there with you to tell someone what happened.”

“Doubt they’d care anyways,” Janus said.

Remus sat down on the grass of the football field.

“At least it got me away from my dipshit brother.”

“Oh, you mean the great and powerful prince Roman?” Janus said, sarcastically.

“That’s the one. Anyways, Virgil, what’s your phone number?”

“I’ll write it down and give it to you once we go back inside.”

“Alright. Do you wanna hang out after school or something?”

“Depends on where at.”

“There’s this abandoned park near my house, we could go there if you want.”

“Sounds cool.”

“You up for it, Jan?”

“Sure.”

They were out there for a good twenty minutes before they were allowed back inside.

They never figured out what triggered the fire alarm, so the rest of the school day went pretty normal.

Well, as normal as being Virgil could get, of course.


	2. Chapter 2: Remus’ Shenanigans

Ah, the smell of cigarette smoke.

It was nostalgic to Remus at this point.

As soon as he entered his house he could smell it, strongly.

That was no surprise though, his mother smoked in the house so goddamn much Remus would probably die of secondhand smoke before he even got to graduate.

He was supposed to meet up with Virgil and Janus at five, so that left him with about two more hours in this shit hole.

He went upstairs and locked himself in his room, not wanting to deal with any of his family members’ bullshit.

He sat on the bed, resting his eyes for a moment.

He serious couldn’t believe what Roman had pulled earlier that day.

Roman NEVER tried to talk to him. Ever. He probably was purposefully trying to cause trouble by setting off Remus in front of Virgil, and in that case, Remus could cause a whole hell of a lot more trouble for Roman than Roman ever could him.

Roman was a slow walker, so Remus usually got home before him.

Roman also left his phone in his room when he went to school for fear of it being stolen.

Remus smirked. Roman had made this so easy for him. He’d practically begged for it.

Remus got up, went to Roman’s room, and snatched his phone.

Roman, being the absolute idiot that he was, didn’t have a password on his phone.

“Ha! Fucking dumbass,” Remus said, walking into his room and shutting the door.

He hoped his mother didn’t hear him say that. Or that she didn’t know he was home in general.

Remus flopped back down on the bed, immediately getting to work.

He opened Roman’s messages.

The most recent conversation was, of course, with Roman’s childhood friend Patton.

And oh, the things he could do with Patton.

He started sending some explicit texts, to say the least.

Patton was utterly confused. Roman had never acted like this before.

He didn’t know how to respond, either.

————————————————

❤️Roman❤️: DADDY 😩💦🍆🍑

✨❤️Mi amor❤️✨: what 😅

✨❤️Mi amor❤️✨: roman are u okay 🤨

❤️Roman❤️: No 🍑💦

✨❤️Mi amor❤️✨: im coming over 

❤️Roman❤️: WAIT NO DON’T

✨❤️Mi amor❤️✨: why not 🤨

❤️Roman❤️: My mom

❤️Roman❤️: U kno how she is 

✨❤️Mi amor❤️✨: oh 😓

✨❤️Mi amor❤️✨: well im always here if u need anything ❤️

❤️Roman❤️: Ok btw I love u and have a MAJOR crush on u bye

————————————————

Remus turned off Roman’s phone and put it in his pocket. There was only about an hour left before Janus and Virgil would be at the park. If he wanted to avoid getting caught by his mother he’d have to leave soon.

She was usually sleeping around this time, so he should’ve been safe.

He walked down the stairs, as quietly as he could.

Once he got to the front door without her seeing him, he was sure he was safe.

That was, until he actually went outside.

“Where are you sneaking off to?”

There she was, standing on the porch, smoking a cigarette as usual.

“Nowhere. I’m just...taking a walk.”

Remus tried to get away, but she grabbed him by the wrist.

Her grip was as tight as a virgin’s asshole.

“You can’t go out. You’re going to miss dinner.”

“Since when have you cared about me?”

She let go of his wrist, but only to slap him in the face.

“Don’t you fucking talk to me like that. Do you know how much I do for you?”

“Goodbye.”

Remus sprinted, going as fast as he could away from that place.

He stopped to catch his breath once he thought he was far enough away.

The park wasn’t that far away from where he was. He’d given Janus and Virgil the location, so hopefully they wouldn’t get lost along the way.

He started walking again. There were only a couple more minutes until five, and Remus couldn’t wait after the day he’d had.

Maybe he could just runaway with Virgil and Janus. That would be nice. He’d like that.

There was really nothing for him at home. Hell, the only thing he had anywhere were his friends, so if they agreed, they could all just runaway together.

It would be wonderful.

Remus got to the park, only to find that Janus was already there.

He was slowly swinging on one of the wooden swings.

“You’re here a bit early, aren’t you?” Remus asked.

“I came straight here after school.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

Remus got it now.

“Fair.”

He gave Janus a half smile.

They had the same family situation.

And as shitty as it was, Remus couldn’t help feeling like this was a victory for him.

Remus joined Janus on the swings, sitting on the swing next to Janus.

He checked his phone to see if Virgil had texted anything about when he was coming.

————————————————

3:58 PM

New text message from Virgin💚😩💦🍑🍆: On my way

————————————————

Remus smiled.

————————————————

As soon as Virgil’s mother left he was free to sneak out.

She wouldn’t be back until four in the morning, so he had plenty of time to spend with his new friends.

He opened up his bedroom window, climbing onto his roof and quietly slipping off of it, landing in the grass.

He began walking towards the park, which, was actually a lot closer to his house than he had previously thought.

That must’ve meant that Remus and Virgil lived in the same neighborhood.

————————————————

Virgil arrived at the park about twenty minutes earlier than he was meant to.

That was alright, though, because he saw that both Remus and Janus were also early.

“Virge! Hey!” Remus said, smiling.

Virgil smiled and sat down on a swing next to Janus.

“I can’t believe I actually got away with sneaking out. That’s the first time I’ve ever done anything like that,” Virgil said.

“You snuck out?” Janus asked.

“Had to. My mother sure as hell wouldn’t let me go anywhere otherwise. She’s very overprotective.”

“So none of our parents know where we are,” Remus said.

“What do you mean?” Janus asked.

“You said you came straight here after school, so that means there’s a high chance that your parents don’t know where you are. Virgil snuck out, and I ran off without telling my mother where I was going.”

“Are you implying that it’s a bad thing?” Janus asked.

“Not at all. Parents fucking suck.”

Virgil snickered.

“Cheers to that.”

“So Virge, do you have a specific time that you need to go back in order to not get caught or...?” Remus asked.

“Nope. I can stay out as long as I want. My mom’s a nurse, she’s not gonna be back until, like, four in the morning.”

“Awesome! I wish I had that luxury. My mother’s probably gonna kill me if I come home.”

Remus usually didn’t talk about his mother in front of anyone, but he felt safe with them. He felt like they’d get it, and that they’d have enough sense not to tell anyone.

Hell, Virgil probably didn’t even have anyone to tell in the first place.

“Hey dipshit, here’s an idea, don’t go home,” Janus said.

“What else can I do?”

“Since my mom isn’t coming back for a while, you can stay at my house for the night if you want. You too, Janus,” Virgil offered.

“I think I’ll take you up on that, thank you Virge. See, Jan? Aren’t you glad we kept skipping class?”

Janus smiled.

“I never wasn’t.”

Janus was just fine with roaming the streets to avoid going home like he usually did, but if he was being honest, this new kid was growing on him. 

Not in the way you’d think.

Not in the way that Remus had grew on him.

No, he didn’t want to hang around Virgil because he wanted to be friends.

He wanted to hang around Virgil because he’d be easy to manipulate.


	3. Chapter 3: Snitties And A Missing Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter briefly mentions s*icide!!

Things were fucked.

Remus was missing, along with Roman’s phone, and Patton had climbed through Roman’s window asking about some strange texts that were sent from Roman’s phone.

Once Patton had explained everything that had happened, it was clear to Roman that Remus had stolen his phone and ran off.

To where, though, he had no idea.

God, Remus could be so difficult sometimes.

He had the audacity to claim that Roman had a crush on Patton, of all people.

Patton was like a brother to Roman. Especially considering that Roman’s actual brother hated him for no reason.

Patton had always been there for Roman, no matter what.

Roman had been through hell and back trying to fight his battles, but nonetheless, Patton stayed, fighting with him every chance that he got.

“We could try to text him from my phone, if you want. Though, he hasn’t answered in a while,” Patton offered.

“It’d be good to at least try.”

“I’ll text your phone first, and if he doesn’t reply I’ll try to text his.”

“Good idea.”

Patton tried texting Roman’s phone, along with Remus’.

————————————————

Remus felt one of two phones vibrating in his pocket.

He assumed it was his, seeing as he had turned Roman’s off.

But his only friends were with him, so who the hell was texting him?

He took his phone out of his pocket to check.

It was Patton.

Fucking Patton.

————————————————

6:31 PM

New text message from Illiterate Shart Balloon 🤮🤮🤡: are u okay? me and roman are worried about you. where are you??

————————————————

Remus sighed.

“Why does he even still have my number?”

“What’s wrong now?” Janus asked.

“Apparently Patton still has my number. He just asked me where I was, because of course Roman is so, so, worried about me,” Remus sneered.

“Fuck both of them.”

Virgil got up from the beanbag he was sitting on and sat down next to Remus on the bed. He took Remus’ phone out of his hands and set it down beside him.

“You know what? We’re going out on the roof. With all the shit going on in our lives, I think we’ve earned a distraction,” Virgil said.

“What, do you want us to make a suicide pact or something? I’m down,” Remus replied.

Virgil sighed.

“No. It’s just...peaceful. You’ll see.”

He stood up and opened the window next to his bed, climbing out onto the roof. Remus followed.

“You coming, Jan?” Remus asked.

“Screw it, sure.”

Nothing like watching cars pass below you with the kids you skip class with, right?

But once Janus climbed out onto the roof with them, he realized that Virgil was right. It was peaceful. It was the peace that he and Remus deserved.

Throughout the little time that Janus had gotten to spend with Virgil, Janus had realized two things about him.

One, he was practically desperate for friendship.

And two, Janus could very easily use that to his advantage.

————————————————

Patton sighed. 

It had been nearly twenty minutes since Patton had sent Remus a text, but he still hadn’t responded. Patton was getting seriously worried. They hadn’t been close since elementary school, but Patton still cared for him deeply, even if Remus hated his guts.

He wasn’t even sure what he’d done wrong, all he knew was that Remus had told him to choke and die once in seventh grade.

They hadn’t really talked since.

Roman had said at the time that Remus was just going through an edgy phase, but two years had passed and nothing had changed.

The most plausible explanation is simply that Remus has changed, and that for some reason, Remus now wanted Patton to choke and die.

Patton wished that Remus would at least tell him what he did. Then he could at least try to fix it.

But unfortunately, for now, there was nothing he could do. He just had to wait until Remus was ready to talk.

If he ever would be.

————————————————

Remus got out his sketchbook and colored pencils.

When Janus looked over to see what he was drawing he saw...himself?

Shirtless.

Janus blushed.

“Remus, what the fuck are you doing?”

Remus became aware of his surroundings. He’d gotten so lost in his inspiration that he’d practically forgotten where he was at.

Virgil looked over at the two, noticing Remus’ drawing. It was...interesting, to say the least.

“I’m drawing, Jan.”

Remus wrote ‘Snitties’ in all capitals at the top of the page.

“What are...snitties?” Janus asked, afraid of the answer.

“So, that scar on your face kind of makes you look like a snake, and I don’t mean that as an insult. I think snakes are really cute. Anyways, I drew your man titties, hence, snitties. Snake titties.”

“I’m...going to pretend like you didn’t just say that for the sake of my own sanity.”

Virgil started laughing so hard that a tear fell down his cheek. He was really enjoying the time this group spent together.

————————————————

Roman was seriously worried at this point.

It had been nearly two hours since Remus ran off, according to his mother.

It was getting dark, so Patton would probably have to go home soon too.

So Roman would be all alone.

The thought drove him crazy.

Even though he and Remus rarely interacted, just the idea that he was always right down the hall made Roman feel a hundred times safer.

But now that had been taken away from him.

There was nobody down the hall anymore.

It was him and him alone, left to deal with his mother’s bullshit by himself.

But Patton could practically tell what he was thinking, and he wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Hey, since Remus isn’t here, I could ask my parents if I could stay the night here, if you want.”

“How did you...?”

“I know how you are. I know almost everything about you, we’ve known each other so long. All your deepest, darkest secrets? Mine now.”

Patton giggled, which made Roman smile.

God, he was so cute. 

In a little brother sort of way.

At least, that’s what Roman kept telling himself.


	4. Chapter 4: Out of the Void

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The squid

Patton’s phone vibrated, waking him up.

Roman was sleeping on his stomach, so Patton had to be extremely still if he didn’t want to wake him up.

Thankfully, Patton was able to grab his phone without waking Roman up.

He’d had a long day yesterday, he deserved his rest.

Patton checked his notifications and saw that he’d finally received a response from Remus.

He grinned, until he saw what the message said.

————————————————

7:07 PM

New text message from 💚Remus💚: I’m in da void

7:08 PM

New text message from 💚Remus💚: Ratatata

————————————————

At least he was okay.

————————————————

Illiterate Shart Balloon 🤮🤮🤡: are u okay??

💚Remus💚: No 🤡🤡🤡🤡

Illiterate Shart Balloon 🤮🤮🤡: whats wrong???

💚Remus💚: I’m being sarcastic u stupid cock socket

💚Remus💚: I’m fine

💚Remus💚: Roman doesn’t actually care about me btw

💚Remus💚: He just likes to seem like a hero

Illiterate Shart Balloon 🤮🤮🤡: im sure thats not true

💚Remus💚: Believe whatever u want. I’ll probably have to come home soon anyways. Not looking forward to it

Illiterate Shart Balloon 🤮🤮🤡: remus ill let u stay at my house if u dont wanna come home. that way ill at least know ur safe

💚Remus💚: Ew no. You’re nothing but a smelly crotch clown 🤡 

💚Remus💚: Roman’s little whiteknight 🤡🤡🤡🤡

————————————————

Patton sighed, laying his phone down on the bed.

Remus was difficult.

————————————————

Remus cackled, making a tired Janus sigh.

“God, shut the fuck up. Please. It’s seven in the goddamn morning.”

“Yeah? Well I’ve been up for two hours already, snake face. Get on my level.”

Janus sat up, crawling across the asphalt shingles of the roof towards Remus.

He cupped Remus’s face with his hands.

“Shush. Please. I’m so tired. I just wanna go back to sleep.”

How Virgil was sleeping through all of this, Janus had no idea.

“You two fight like an old married couple.” Virgil mumbled.

Apparently he wasn’t sleeping through this.

Good to know.

“Ah, yes. We got married in ‘89,” Janus joked.

“Pennywise was my best man. He birthed a squid from his mouth while the rest of us were eating cake,” Remus added on.

“Oh yeah, the squid.”

Remus nodded.

“The squid.” 

————————————————

Roman had woken up a while ago, but he was still pretending to be asleep.

It wasn’t often that he got to spend time with Patton like this. They’d done it all the time when they were kids, but recently they’d been a bit busy with everything going on.

It was nice.

Really nice.

Plus, it was a good way to distract the both of them from everything else going on.

“Have you heard from Remus yet?”

“Yeah. He’s fine...I think.”

“You think? What do you mean by that?”

“He wasn’t exactly crystal clear about it.”

“Well, what’d he say?”

“He said that he’ll probably have to come home soon, and then called me a smelly crotch clown when I said that he could stay at my place.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Remus. Don’t take it to heart though, he’s like that with everyone.”

“Not with that one guy. The one with the scar? Remus doesn’t hate him.”

“That’s because he’s just about as weird as Remus.”

“I guess.”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it. I’m sure Remus doesn’t hate you as much as it seems.”

Patton hoped that was true, especially considering that Remus hadn’t even told him what he’d done.

————————————————

“Hey Virge, shouldn’t your mom be home by now?” Remus asked.

Virgil rolled over so that he was facing him.

“Yeah, she is. You don’t have to worry though. She’s probably sleeping right now, you’ll just have to be out by 4 PM. But, just to be sure, I’m gonna go check to see where she’s at right now.”

Virgil opened his window, crawling back inside.

He came back a couple minutes later, panic in his eyes.

“She’s wide awake. You guys need to leave now.”

Janus sighed.

“Well that’s great.”

Remus stood up and jumped off of the roof, bolting back to his house. Meanwhile Janus just quietly slipped off.

————————————————

Remus climbed into his window to avoid anyone downstairs.

Once he got into his room, he found that his door was open.

He shut the door, of course, seemingly forgetting that Roman’s room was right next to Remus’, meaning he would hear the sound it made.

————————————————

Roman sat up excitedly.

“Was that...?” Patton asked.

“Yep.”

The two both got up to investigate, opening up the door again.

Remus sighed.

“I literally just closed the door.”

Patton ran up and hugged him, much to Remus’ disgust.

“If you guys don’t shut your shit boxes and stop making noise mom’s gonna beat the shit out of me. Shut the fuck up, please and thank you,” Remus said.

“Right, about that...” Patton said, grabbing Remus’ wrist gently. 

“You’re coming with me.”

“What?”

“I don’t want your mother to catch you. So, you’re gonna stay with me for a while.”

“What about Prince Shitlord over here?”

“Well someone has to take care of our animals. God knows mom isn’t going to.”

A household without Roman? And all Remus would have to do was deal with Patton’s idiocy? Perfect.

“Speaking of, Patton, can I take Booger with me?”

Booger was Remus’ cat. Remus had had him for as long as he could remember, and it would make him feel a lot better if Remus knew Booger was there with him.

Patton hesitated for a bit. He knew very well that he had a cat allergy, but if it would make Remus stay, who was he to say no?

“Sure! Whatever makes you happy!”

“Patton, don’t you have a cat aller-“

“Shhh.”

“Is mom downstairs?” Remus asked.

“She’s not home right now.” Roman replied.

As soon as he heard that, Remus went downstairs, going out the front door. Patton followed.

Remus pet Booger’s head and picked him up. Booger rested his head on Remus’ shoulder.

Patton sneezed. 

Remus’ cat was so adorable. Patton just wanted to hold it forever.

But, he knew that he shouldn’t purposefully cause his allergy to become even worse than it already would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t usually do this sort of thing but if you’re able to, PLEASE download the Freerice app. For every right answer they donate ten grains of rice to Yemen!


	5. Chapter 5: Sometimes People Can Be Tolerable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter mentions s*icide, death, and bullying!

Patton’s room was exactly what you’d expect it to be. A mess of kittens, puppies, and Disney.

Sugar, spice, and everything nice, without the spice.

Patton sat down on his bed.

Remus let Booger down. Booger then jumped up onto Patton’s bed, trying to get attention. He hesitantly gave Booger what he wanted, making Patton’s eyes water.

He repeatedly pet Booger’s head, in spite of his allergy.

“I’m glad you decided to stay here.”

“Me, or my cat?”

“You, of course!”

“I didn’t decide anything. You practically forced me.”

“But you didn’t resist.”

“You expected me to?”

“I mean...yeah? I kind of thought you hated me.”

“I do, but I hate my mother more.”

“I’d hope so. I don’t think I could ever begin to understand how she justifies the things that she does. It’s not right.”

Remus sneered.

“Just say you don’t like it. Right and wrong is bullshit. It’s all based on opinion.”

“B-But! You agree right? That she’s horrible?” 

“Of course. I’m just saying.”

“Some people’s morals are...messed up, to say the least.”

“Yep, and I’m one of ‘em!”

Patton sighed.

“You can sit down, if you want.”

Remus had practically forgotten that he was still standing. He sat down immediately after Patton finished speaking.

Patton smiled.

Remus started petting his cat along with Patton.

“So, how long can I stay for?” Remus asked.

“As long as you need. My parents don’t mind.”

“Really? Damn. I’m sure you’ll get sick of me eventually.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Everyone does.”

“Not everyone.”

“How do you explain why I’m being harassed by half the school then?”

Patton stopped petting Booger.

“Remus, have...have the texts started again?”

Booger crawled into Remus’ lap, laying down in it soon after.

“Yep. They stopped for a short period of time but, as always, they’re back. There are too many numbers for me to block them all.”

“You deserve better.”

“I’m fully aware.”

“What have they been doing?”

“The usual. Calling me a dumb bitch and telling me to kill myself.”

“Don’t ever listen to them. Please. I don’t know what I’d do if you did.”

“They’d stop if I did.”

“Remus, please.”

“What? Just telling the truth.”

“Remus.”

“Aren’t you against lying, Patton? Isn’t it like, a sin or some shit?”

“But I’m not lying. They’d just move onto someone else if you died.”

“I don’t really care. Everyone at that school is a fuckin’ asshole. Besides, not like anyone would really care if I died.”

“Remus, you know for a fact that I’d care.”

“Yeah, but I hate you. That doesn’t count.”

“Well, what about that one guy you hang out with? The one with the big scar?”

“I...don’t think he cares about me all too much.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Just a hunch.”

“You can’t assume things like that based off of a hunch!”

“Well that’s boring.”

Remus was already getting annoyed with Patton. Why couldn’t he just encourage Remus to fuck off and die like everyone else?

“Not...killing yourself?”

“Exactly.”

“Remus, it’s not worth-”

“Sometimes, I imagine how it’d go. Hanging? Jumping off of a bridge? Chugging household poisons? Throwing myself in front of a car?”

“Remus! For the love of god stop it!”

“What? Am I bothering you?”

“No? Yes? I...I don’t know! I just wanna keep you safe!”

“Okay, you passed. God, you’re pathetic.”

“Passed? Passed what?”

“You’re tolerable. Annoying, but tolerable. You don’t want me to choke and die like everyone else, so I guess that’s something.”

“Why would I?”

“Everyone does. You must know that at this point.”

“Roman doesn’t.”

“Roman does. Otherwise he wouldn’t just sit back and watch everything happen instead of stepping in. But I understand. The handsome prince doesn’t have time to stand up for a lowly peasant like me.”

“I’m sure he wants to.”

If he truly wanted to, he could do so without any consequences, but he never had.

However, Remus chose not to bring that up.

“Alright. If you say so.”

————————————————

Janus had been a runaway for four days now and his parents still hadn’t noticed.

He would sneak back inside his house every once in a while to make sure his cats were being fed properly, but other than that, he had no reason to go back.

He hadn’t eaten in a couple days, sure, but he didn’t even really feel hungry anymore. He was starving a couple days ago, but as the days went on, he was starting to recognize the feeling less and less for some reason.

But other than feeling a little dizzy from time to time, he wasn’t really suffering much.

Being away from his parents was only solving one of his millions of problems, but hey, it was something at least.

Janus wondered where Remus had went after Virgil kicked them out. Did he go back home? Would he come back to school on Monday with bruises all over his body again, claiming that he fell down the stairs, or some other generic excuse?

What if his mother threw another vase? What excuse would he come up with for the cuts?

He doubted anyone really cared whether or not the excuses were bullshit. Nobody really cared about Remus much.

But still, Remus’ horrible lying skills were pitiful.

So, as a result, Janus had to make sure he wasn’t going to get hurt.

————————————————

Remus’ phone vibrated.

He got his phone out of his pocket, only to find that he’d gotten a message from Janus.

Maybe he didn’t hate Remus like Remus had assumed?

————————————————

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: You’re okay, right?

My Idiot💖: I’m fine why?

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: Where are you?

My Idiot💖: Patton kidnapped me 💦

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: Ew. Better than your mom at least

My Idiot💖: Why do u care all of the sudden?

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: I’ve always cared, dumbass. Have a good day, or else.

————————————————

————————————————

Remus smiled.

He genuinely smiled.

This was not a very common occurrence.

The last time it had happened was when his aunt had died. That bitch.

But here Janus was, finally making him feel somewhat loved.

He had absolutely no right to do so.


	6. Chapter 6: Libraries And Burning Flesh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a tumblr now if you wanna go follow it! It’s the same username as here, ficsmyfriendsmakefunofmefor!

Virgil felt a bit bad about having to kick Janus and Remus out, but he did what he had to, right? It was either that or risk being caught by his mother.

And if that had happened, Virgil would probably end up dead in a ditch.

Literally, if his stepdad was the one that found him.

He wasn’t even supposed to be on the roof in the first place, let alone with two almost-strangers he’d snuck into his room.

Virgil went downstairs to get some breakfast. His mother was already in the kitchen, waiting for him.

She took a sip of coffee.

“So, who were your friends?”

Shit.

“Huh?”

“I’ve never met them before. Hell, I didn’t even know that you had any friends.”

“I...I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. Don’t try to lie to me.”

Virgil fiddled with his hoodie strings.

“I’m not lying.”

“I came into your room to check on you once I came home last night. I saw you on the roof with them.”

That’s when Virgil realized there was no getting out of this.

He was dead.

“Sorry...?”

“What if the roof collapsed? What would happen then? And sneaking random people into our house while I’m not home? Really? God, I thought I could trust you.”

“You can trust me! But you never have, that’s the thing. Did it ever even cross your mind that maybe I had a good reason to sneak them in?”

“What good reason could you have to sneak two random strangers into our house?”

“They didn’t have anywhere else to go, mom. Their parents are awful to them.”

“That doesn’t excuse it.”

Virgil sighed.

“Whatever.”

He went back upstairs to his room, forgetting what he came downstairs to do in the first place.

————————————————

Janus was just hanging out at his local library. He had just came up with the idea. It was a perfect place to stay for someone in his situation.

He’d been there since they first opened for the day, and he believed the librarian working at the time was beginning to get a little suspicious, considering the looks she’d been giving him.

He didn’t really mind, though, as long as she didn’t kick him out for loitering or something.

It’s not like he was disturbing anyone. He was just quietly sitting on the floor reading something he’d found on one of the shelves.

Is it even possible to get kicked out of a library for loitering? Isn’t that the whole point?

He felt a vibration coming from his pocket, which he assumed was his phone.

Maybe one of his parents had finally realized he was missing?

He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at the message.

Nope, it was from Remus. Of course.

Not that Janus was complaining. 

————————————————

11:06 AM

New message from My Idiot💖: Where are u?

————————————————

Why did he want to know? It wasn’t like Patton would let Janus stay at his house after what had happened with the two of them.

————————————————

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: The Christopher Columbus Public Library

My Idiot💖: Oh. I got banned from there lol

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: How??

My Idiot💖: I took a shit on one of the chairs by the computers and someone sat in it

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: Remus what the ACTUAL fuck

My Idiot💖: It’s their fault for naming a library after that asshole

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: Touché

My Idiot💖: Anyways Patton is pretending he doesn’t know u and it’s fucking hilarious 

🍆💦💚Scarface💚🍆💦: Ah, yes. I totally did not cuss out Patton Foley in eight grade while he was sitting on a picnic bench eating peaches in a park full of children, causing him to cry

My Idiot💖: He keeps calling u “the guy with the scar” as if he doesn’t know ur name lmao

————————————————

That annoyed Janus, though he knew that Patton probably didn’t know the real reason as to how he’d gotten the scar in the first place.

There were a lot of rumors going around about what had happened the night of the incident, but none of them were even slightly close to the truth.

The only thing the public knew? About two years ago, Janus was at a house party. One that ended up in flames.

What started the fire should’ve been obvious to Remus, but he had never picked up on it.

Janus would never tell him, obviously. 

Even if Remus figured it out himself one day, Janus would never admit it.

That night plagued Janus’ thoughts enough already, he didn’t need someone else to constantly remind him of it on top of it all.

It was an accident.

A horribly unfortunate accident.

Janus was being stupid.

He could never forget the immense pain he felt that night.

The smell of his burning flesh.

When you’ve experienced something like that, it’s simply impossible to forget.

The surreal experience of staring at yourself in a mirror while your flesh burns off of your face is not something that is easily forgotten.

The fact that Janus even got out alive was a miracle, in the state that he was in.

He was in the hospital for almost two weeks after. It wasn’t pleasant, but Remus visited whenever he got the chance. That was nice. Janus appreciated that. 

As shitty as that situation was, at least he had Remus to spend time with while he was recovering.

But of course, Remus being Remus, he kept cracking jokes at the most inappropriate of times.

Mainly Freddy Krueger jokes.

Though, to be fair, they did give Janus something to laugh about in that mess of a situation.

Remus was an acquired taste, but once you got used to him, you couldn’t get enough of him.

Most of the time.

Other times, he could be annoying.

But Janus didn’t mind, honestly. He would rather have a friend that was annoying occasionally than a friend who just didn’t care about his well-being at all.

Maybe that’s why he got along with Remus so well?

**Author's Note:**

> This is only the calm before the storm, I have a LOT of things planned. Also, I do take constructive criticism, so feel free to give me some in the comments if you’d like!


End file.
